New school nation's 1st in a library

Helen Griffith, executive director of E3 Civic High, left, and Mel Katz, right, chairman of the San Diego Public Library Foundation, on the seventh floor, one of the two floors the school will occupy at the new San Diego Central Library in East Village.

Helen Griffith, executive director of E3 Civic High, left, and Mel Katz, right, chairman of the San Diego Public Library Foundation, on the seventh floor, one of the two floors the school will occupy at the new San Diego Central Library in East Village.

The curriculum is based on research and programs at the successful High Tech High network of charters in San Diego County, as well as programs that rely on project-based learning.

As a charter school, e3 Civic High will be publicly funded and independently operated. In exchange for the promise to raise test scores through innovative education methods, charters are not bound by local and state education codes. They also are exempt from union hiring policies.

Several backers of e3 Civic High, including Katz, are business or community leaders who have been active in local school politics for years.

Some of them also have been critics of San Diego Unified and see this a chance to try their hand at offering an alternative.

“I don’t feel pressure,” Katz said. “We really want to become a lead charter school in San Diego County. It’s very exciting.”